Chapter 12
There weresnowflakes dancing on the buildings.
A cathedral of lights of pale blue and white, welcoming you through ornate light gates. A diva on a cloud above a Taj Mahal with a disco ball roof. Ice castles behind shop windows, illuminated in purple and pink. A tiny sparkling penguin riding upon a glittering white Lexus. Then there was the reindeer, pulling a sleigh full of robin’s egg blue and white-ribboned boxes of varying sizes, large jewelled brooches tucked in between.
Her night with Mike hadn’t ended as a typical date would.
There was no dinner and straight back to the house, but a walk along 5thAvenue, which was a carnival of lights in the middle of the city.
They looked into each window as they shared a bag of roasted chestnuts, purchased from a street vendor dressed as an elf. Penny had even gotten a free elf hat out of the encounter, when he heard it was a very special Christmas for her – thanks to Mike, of course.
Their gander down the avenue had taken longer than expected, as Penny took her time to admire the hard-work that had been put in to the Christmas windows, and the warm, happy feeling that seemed to emanate from every pane, sucking you into the merriment of the holiday season.
She’d understood then when so many people wanted to be in New York for the holidays. It was like nothing that could be compared to any experience she’d had before.
By the time they got in at two in the morning, with fingers intertwined, she was thoroughly tired, but exceptionally happy.
He hadn’t pressed for a kiss. She wasn’t sure she was ready for it, but she did grace his cheek with a peck before wishing him goodnight.
It was every woman’s dream evening, and even in her sleep, Penny smiled at the memory of it.
“Merry Christmas!”
A shout started her awake as a slender body pounced onto the bed beside her.
“What?!” Penny exclaimed, utterly confused.
Kate smiled beside her, a Santa hat on her head and red pyjamas on. “Merry Christmas sleepyhead! You were taking too long to get up so I decided to speed you along.” She smirked. “Must have been a good night with Mike. I waited up until one before I headed to bed, and you weren’t in yet.” She looked like the Grinch, the way her smile consumed her entire face.
Penny promptly hid her head beneath the sheets. “Still sleeping. Come back later.” She batted her away.
“Nope. Wake up. It’s after ten and you need to help Mike and Ian with dinner.” She yanked the comforter from Penny’s head, ruffling her hair. She moaned in response. “Now come on! The faster you get up, the faster we eat and the faster we get to presents!”
Kate had always been a Christmas Day pixie, flitting here and there, enchanted by every bit of finery she could find. It was utterly endearing and completely annoying all at the same time – especially when all you wanted to do was sleep.
It took almost half an hour for Penny to emerge from her bedroom, but once she did she was greeted by the sight of Mike, casually dressed in dark jeans and t-shirt with Frosty the Snowman on it, chopping away at some unfamiliar vegetable.
“Good morning,” he greeted her as he tried to suppress a smirk. “You can start over here by me.” He tapped the chopping board with his knife, beckoning her.
“What are we doing?” she asked, peering over his shoulder curiously, looking at the piles of different vegetables and spices that enveloped the counter.
Ian was near the oven inspecting a large turkey.
“You and I are dealing with veggies and side dishes. We’ve got seasoned potatoes, asparagus, candied yams, Brussels sprouts and wild rice on our menu today. Ian’s handling the turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing and everything else. He picked up dessert yesterday, so we’ve got cherry almond cheesecake, a Yule log and some macaroons.”
Penny was dumbfounded. “All that for just the four of us?”
“Not four of us,” Kate piped in as she folded napkins on the dining room table. Toby was playing in his playpen quietly. “Our parents usually join us, but this year mine are in Jamaica, so it’s just going to be seven of us.” She looked up from her work, the grin she’d had early still painted on her face. “We always go big, just like back home. Remember?”
She did.
Christmas was always a production, with the performance happening on the dinner table. Penny always preferred the pres-how cooking in the kitchen however, and spent most of the day there helping out. She rolled up the sleeves on her lavender cardigan.
“Let’s get going.”
Bing Crosby was crooning‘A Marshmallow World’ as they settled in around the tree. Anna and Peter, Ian’s parents, were seated together on the couch.
Anna was drinking eggnog that she’d brought with her, while Peter and Ian discussed plans for a New Year’s football game.
